An Italian American friend of mine from culinary school shared his grandmother’s meat ball recipe. It wasn’t really a recipe as much as a list of ingredients. I’ve never written a recipe but I use my “meatball third eye” for measuring. These meatballs are not browned in the oven, they are instead cooked by poaching or simmering the raw meat ball in homemade tomato sauce. This technique brings on a very unique character and texture which seems more palatable to kids. The sauce must be stirred occasionally to prevent scorching and you must be gentle as to not break any of the meatballs. I prefer huge meatballs, sized slightly smaller than a tennis ball and when served they become the main entrée. When mixing the raw ingredients (meat mixture) do not over mix. This may cause the mixture to become sticky, rendering the meatballs rubbery or tough.

A mixture of ground veal, pork and beef.

1. Finely diced onions sautéed till translucent (clear, not caramelized too much) and to a lesser degree fresh garlic added just as the onions are finishing (let cool).


2. Chop up fresh basil, fresh flat leaf parsley (must be flat leaf), and to a lesser degree, fresh oregano, fresh thyme (herbs are not cooked).


3. Grated fresh parmesan cheese, fresh cracked pepper, salt.


4. One or two whole eggs and plenty of Italian bread crumbs to serve as binding agent.

Mix all ingredients together with your hands in a big mixing bowl. This is where kids come into play, they will love cooking with their hands and don’t give me this, “that’s dirty thing”. Come to the kitchen with clean nails, fingers and hands and get involved. Trust me, your kids dirty little hands are infecting everything in the house anyway. You have no idea what they’re doing with your tooth brush when you’re not looking…do you? At least here you can supervise. Shape the balls into a size slightly smaller than a tennis ball. Bring a big pot of tomato sauce to very slight simmer on the stove. I’ve never done it but you probably could use a crock pot. Place raw meat balls one by one into the simmering sauce. It’s best if they don’t touch each other. Occasionally stir so the sauce does not scorch on the bottom of the pot. When stirring be very gentle so as to not break the meatballs.